Passengers describe flight plagued by turbulence, during which 20 of them had to be admitted to intensive care

BANGKOK (AP) — Passengers on a Singapore Airlines flight that went into a steep descent after severe turbulence described the “sheer terror” of the shaking plane flying through the air, leaving people so badly dislocated that 20 of them were still in intensive care on Wednesday.

“I got back to the airport and kept throwing up. I couldn’t walk, it was pretty bad,” said Josh Silverstone, 24, who was discharged from hospital with a cut eye and a chipped tooth. He said it could have been “a lot worse.”

The Briton said he was so scared that he bought internet access for the flight so he could send a message to his mother: “I didn’t want to scare her, but I said, ‘I love you.'”

It is still unclear what exactly caused the turbulence that sent the Boeing 777 with 211 passengers and 18 crew members into a descent of 6,000 feet (around 1,800 meters) within about three minutes on Tuesday. The flight from London to Singapore was diverted to Thailand. A Briton died, possibly of a heart attack.

Flight investigators arrived in Bangkok on Wednesday. Singapore’s Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat said the US Transportation Safety Board had sent technical advisers because a Boeing aircraft was involved in the incident.

Singapore Airlines said 131 passengers and 12 crew members from flight SQ321 who were deemed fit to travel were picked up on a special flight and arrived at Singapore Changi Airport early Wednesday.

Six crew members and 79 passengers remained in Bangkok, where the majority are still in hospital, said Goh Choon Phong, CEO of Singapore Airlines.

Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital, where most of the injured were taken, said the 20 people in intensive care included six Britons, six Malaysians, three Australians, two Singaporeans and one person each from Hong Kong, New Zealand and the Philippines.

Uninjured passenger Beverly Mayers described the situation on the plane as “pure terror.”

“The whole plane shook… big pieces fell off and hit the ground, people got hit in the head,” she told Australian television station Channel 9 upon her arrival at Sydney airport.

Thai authorities withheld the name of the dead man, but British media identified him as 73-year-old Geoffrey Kitchen, who was on a six-week holiday with his wife. A Thai airport official said Kitchen may have suffered a heart attack, but that had not yet been confirmed.

Newlyweds Ali and Ramiza Bukhari, who were flying back from their honeymoon, told reporters at Sydney Airport they were relieved to be home.

“It was a very, very traumatic experience,” said Ali Bukhari.

Most people associate turbulence with severe storms, but the most dangerous type of turbulence is what’s known as clear-air turbulence. Wind shear can occur in thin cirrus clouds or even in clear air near thunderstorms because temperature and pressure differences create strong currents of fast-moving air.

The US Association of Flight Attendants said turbulence in clear air is virtually undetectable with current technology. “One second you are flying smoothly, the next passengers, crew and unsecured carts or other items are being thrown around the cabin,” it said.

“Always follow crew instructions and fasten your seat belt when seated. It is a matter of life and death,” it continued.

——-

Associated Press writer Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, contributed to this report.

Napat Kongsawad, The Associated Press